The Colorado mountain town of Granby was destroyed by a single determined person named Marvin Heemeyer on June 4, 2004. Heemeyer had a grudge against the town government and several business owners related to a situation that dated back several years. Quietly, he prepared his revenge.

For a year and a half, Heemeyer welded away in his garage, converting a bulldozer into a veritable tank with layers of steel armor and concrete. Then, on the final day, he sealed himself into the cockpit and began to drive. There wasn’t a single hole or window in the cockpit. Heemeyer had installed a life support system and external cameras that were covered in several inches of bulletproof plastic and hooked up to internal monitors. Front-, rear-, and side-firing guns were mounted in the tank, and Heemeyer used these to fire at power transformers, propane tanks, and police.

Using the dozer, Heemeyer systematically demolished 13 selected buildings in town. The city hall, the home of a former judge’s widow, the concrete plant, the office of the local newspaper, a hardware store, and 8 other buildings were razed, all of which were owned by people Heemeyer had grudges against. The bulldozer also knocked out natural gas service to City Hall and the cement plant, and damaged a truck and part of a utility service center. Damages were estimated at over $7 million.

Over 200 bullets and 3 explosives were used against the bulldozer, but the armored machine was impervious. The National Guard was called in to provide armor-piercing rounds. At that point, however, Heemeyer’s rampage was nearly finished.

In the midst of destroying the hardware store, the dozer’s engine started to overheat because the radiator had been damaged. Heemeyer got stuck in with one tread in the basement. He shot and killed himself with a handgun, and it took the police 12 hours to cut into the cab with an oxyacetylene cutting torch.

Heemeyer quickly became a folk legend of the mountains.

the inspiring thing about marvin heemeyer is not just that he destroyed some government buildings and businesses—this is exciting, of course, but militaries do the same thing—and it’s not just that he did it all by himself. his last acts are remarkable and inspirational because they so completely shattered the normality of daily life. when certain flows of power—say, the destruction of low-income housing and building condos in their place—are so normalized that they are carried out in broad daylight, actions that reverse this flow—such as the destruction of a condo—become spectacular, deviant, and delicious.